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An American racer at Le Mans - Cooper MacNeil's Autoweek blog

June 10, 2013

Cooper MacNeil tests at Le Mans ahead of this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, which i scheduled for June 22-23.

In between my test at Larbre Competition's home circuit and the official Le Mans pretest on June 9, I took the opportunity to do some high-altitude training and went hiking in the Alps. Great views combined with a strong cardio workout.

I had my first look at the eight-mile-long Circuit de la Sarthe layout last Friday aboard a 90-cc scooter. We could only go on the portion that is a part of the Bugatti Circuit until Saturday night when they closed the public roads to prepare the rest of the track for Sunday. You go from a typical European billiard-smooth racing surface on the Bugatti Circuit to the public roads that make up two-thirds of the Le Mans track, with crowns for rain, and also cracks. The public roads are also the fastest part of the track.

As I was riding around the eight miles on the scooter, I could only imagine the feeling of blasting down the Mulsanne Straight back in the days before the chicanes came in 1990, flat-out going more than 200 mph. That must have been a real rush! You also get a huge sense of history in terms of what and who has come before you -- cars and racers like the Shelby Cobras, great Porsche cars, Ferraris, guys like Derek Bell, Jacky Ickx and, of course, the coolest guy ever, Steve McQueen.

As we prepared to go out for the first time in the No. 70 WeatherTech Corvetteon Sunday morning, we were greeted by rain. As Jason Statham said narrating Audi's Le Mans documentary “Truth in 24,” “It always rains at Le Mans.” By the time I got into the car for the first time, it started to clear a little. So the team put on a set of Michelin intermediate tires. Intermediates are grooved, but not as deep as a rain tire and are meant to work the best on a drying track. Well, the first four miles of the track was drying and then I went into the last chicane on the Mulsanne and was welcomed with a downpour of rain. I had a lazy slide as the car aquaplaned, but I gathered it up and kept going.

The spin got my attention and only elevated my respect for Le Mans. I was being careful in my early stints. As a rookie at Le Mans you are required to do 10 laps. We wanted to make sure we put in the compulsory number before we really went searching for speed.

As the day went on it started to dry. I was able to do a few laps on Michelin slicks and really got a feel for the track and the Corvette C6.R. I can tell you that the combination of the Corvette's power, handling, aero and mechanical grip around Le Mans will match up with the best roller-coaster ride you have ever been on -- save for the Audi LMP1 cars that whisper past you doing about 40 mph more in speed. The Corvette is pretty comfortable to drive. It is confidence-inspiring and does everything well, as a proper race car should.

There were more cars on the track during the test than there will be in the race. Some teams were running test cars. Audi had an additional prototype tasked with tire testing for the 2014 race, serious stuff.

We had a trouble-free run. Everyone was able to get their laps in and the WeatherTech Corvette C6.R ran great.

At the end of the day we jumped on a plane and flew to Bourdeaux; yes, the wine region of France. Jack Leconte, the boss at Larbre, does this every year with the drivers and engineers for some team building, strategy sessions and physical conditioning prior to the race. I am looking forward to getting to know my teammates Philippe Dumas and Manu Rodrigues better over the next couple of days.

I can't wait to get back to Le Mans in a week and drive that great track some more.

Editor's note: Cooper MacNeil is the driver of the WeatherTech Porsche 997 in the American Le Mans Series GT Challenge Class. MacNeil is the 2012 American Le Mans Series GTC drivers' champion. The 20-year-old is embarking on his first Le Mans 24 Hours, June 22-23, in the No. 70 Larbre Competition/WeatherTech Corvette GTE-AM entry. Follow him on Twitter @CooperMacNeil, and get team updates via Facebook at WeatherTech Racing.